Reckless Abandon
by michstargazer
Summary: Bella has always considered herself a happily married woman, complacent with her direction in life. But when she meets Jacob Black, a young police officer, her deepest desires are revealed. JxBxE triangle AH/AU, WARNING: DARK THEMED FIC
1. PROLOGUE

**A/N: Hello faithful readers…we meet again. I know I've kept many of you waiting for this story, but I wanted it to be good. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. It will not be mentally enriching, nor will it have much moral character. In fact, there will be times where you might hate Bella, even though she is most definitely the protagonist. It is simply a story based on established characters that we all know and love. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Beta: LaPushStarlight - Thanks so much!**

PROLOGUE

Jacob Black is taking off my panties.

His large hands make the lace between his fingers look silly, inconsequential.

He has no trouble easing them off my trembling legs.

He smiles at me and, once again, I feel my willpower evaporate. But who am I kidding? That was gone a long time ago.

God, he's gorgeous. Dark devilish eyes, full lashes and wide expanses of dark skin. He's shirtless and I can't help but let my eyes wander downward, past the tattoos and over the smooth muscled skin.

How could I not want this man?

He bends his head and I know what he's going to do. My skirt is pushed up and I feel every nerve clench in anticipation. I'm about to ascend to the heavenly heights of pleasure.

But this time when I close my eyes, I'm assaulted with images I can no longer shove out of my head. My fists clench into the sheets and I'm annoyed with myself.

"Jake, please…can we just stop and talk?"

He stops trailing kisses along my thighs long enough to look up at me in confusion. This is the first time I've stopped him from doing anything.

I hate it.

"What's wrong, honey?"

His deep voice does nothing to soothe my skin that waits for his touch. His voice is butter and I'm a hot biscuit.

"I'm just worried," I say softly, averting my eyes from his luscious body.

He groans, sounding a bit annoyed, but I can barely hear it over my blaring conscience.

He crawls slowly up the bed and looks at me intently. His eyes are soulful and search mine tenderly.

Oh, God, this is hard.

"I think he knows," I whisper, half hoping that he doesn't hear me correctly.

Instead he laughs. "Why do you think that?"

I shake my head minutely. "I don't know. He's been acting so strange the last week. Quiet and distant in one moment and then giddy and happy in the next. He's not usually like that."

Jacob looks smug. "Midlife crisis maybe?"

I swat his large bicep playfully. "Jake, I'm trying to be serious here."

He props himself on one arm and his muscles clench deliciously.

God, I want to eat him.

"Bella, what is he going to do? Confront me? Try to intimidate me with some fancy businessman lingo? Try and land a punch?"

I reach up and run my fingers over his freshly shorn hair. His sexy cop haircut isn't helping my resolve.

He laughs again before his eyes grow dark and serious. "Bella, if you're really feeling unsafe, we could go somewhere together. Just the two of us. For a week or so."

It's so temping. I want to shout 'YES!' at the top of my lungs. I would go anywhere with this man, but life is too complicated at the moment. His eyes drill into me, waiting for my answer. I kiss him instead and his soft lips meld into mine easily. If only my answer for him would be as easy as this kiss…

He pulls away and cups his hand around my face. "You can't kiss your way out of this one, Bells," he jokes. He strokes my face and our noses are touching.

"Bella, you know how I feel about you. I would never push you to make a decision you aren't ready to make. I want you. Not just every day but every minute. I thought that intensity would have lessened by now. But not with you. Come with me to The Keys. Just me and you for a few days. Sophie will be fine."

Sophie. That was the main reason why this was so hard. I would do anything for my daughter, but lately I've been selfish and absolutely lost in love with a man. A man who is not her father.

I'm silent for a while. After a moment, I look up, hoping my face is unreadable, but knowing that it's not. I take a deep breath and meet his eyes. My lips part to give him my answer, but before I make a sound a deafeningly loud bang cuts through the air.

A gunshot.

Oh, God, I've been shot. Except there's no pain.

Blood trickles onto the white sheets and I gasp as Jacob's face contorts. He clenches inward and puts his hand up to the fast-gushing wound on his chest.

"Bella," he gurgles and gasps. I scream as I see him take heaving breaths. They quickly become shallow and strained. My hands reach out for him. I know there is little I can do. He is leaking blood like a sieve, his heart torn apart by the bullet.

I look up toward the doorway, knowing who I'll see.

Who knew my husband is such a good shot?

**A/N: Remember this is just the prologue. It's a small glimpse into the future. I need a good response to continue, so please leave an abundant amount of reviews. I think you will like the story line I've created so far. Thanks again.**

**~MSG**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know many of you have questions for me and the good news is, I have answers on my Facebook page! Simply look up the fan group michstargazer on FB and become a fan. Go to the discussions tab and ask away! I'll do my best to answer. I also wanted to let everyone know that I'm publishing unedited right now and would love to have a beta to look over my words. If you are interested and have some skillz in that area, please let me know. **

**Anyway, here we go on with the story. I hope you enjoy it and leave a review. **

**My beta for this story is LaPushStarlight and she is AWESOME!**

Chapter One: The Story of Bella

My name is Bella and I'm going to tell you a story.

It has everything in it that you would expect from a good story. Lies, sex, deceit, betrayal and yes…even death. And for me it all started the day I set eyes on Jacob Black. There was no turning back after that.

To understand what really happened and why it happened, I have to go back in time and tell you a little about myself first.

I grew up very poor. My mother, Renee, raised me alone. She told me very little about my father. Only that he was a good for nothing grade A asshole. So, eventually, I learned to quit asking about him.

I could remember some things about my dad. He was out of my life by the time I was two, but I did have memories of his great big booming laugh and I could recall that every night he liked to take out his gun and show it to me as he polished it. I didn't know much about him, but I missed him like hell.

My mother up and left him one night after a long fight. She took me out of my bed and bundled me in a blanket in the backseat. I was too sleepy to fight it, and much too young to know what was going on. I don't know where we were living at that point, but we drove for days in that beat up Chevelle. At the end of our journey we made our new temporary home in a dirty apartment in a sketchy neighborhood in Phoenix.

We lived off food stamps and church basement handouts, but that was fine. It was the constant moving that bothered me. It seemed like every month, I was uprooted and heading to a new school in a new city. By the time I had reached my senior year, we were back in Phoenix and I had been to a total of eleven different schools. It was mind numbing to think about how I survived all of the "new kid" torture inflicted on me. I had been stuffed into lockers, beaten to a pulp on the playground and in fifth grade one girl even cut my fucking braids off in math class. But the truth is that, after all of that, I was much stronger. I could sling shit with the best of them. At least, that is what I told myself.

I had only a few months left of my senior year the day I received the letter. Because we moved around so much, we didn't get a lot of mail, so imagine my surprise to find a letter addressed to me. It was the first letter I'd ever gotten in my life. I remember examining that envelope like it was precious gold before opening it. The scrawl in nice neat capital letters, the stamps perfectly aligned. I opened it with the greatest care, as if I were handling a butterfly wing.

_Dearest Bella,_

_I hope to God that you receive this letter. It has been my life's greatest wish to contact you after all of these years. In my line of work, all of this new technology suddenly has its advantages. I was able to look up your address there in Phoenix. I hope you're still there. I would have called and written you sooner, but I simply didn't know where you were. _

_I've missed you, my daughter. I imagine what your face might look like now. You were the prettiest child. Long brown hair and the biggest chocolate brown eyes that I'd ever seen. _

_If you could only know how hard I've tried to find you! I hope that you and your mother are well. I really do wish the best for her, even if things didn't work out between us. I'm sorry for not being there, Bella. I know that there were probably many days where you wanted to reach for your daddy and he wasn't there. I'm so sorry, baby. Please. Forgive me. _

_If there is any way that you could let me know that you received this letter, I would be so grateful._

_Love you always,_

_Dad_

Oh! How I cried. I cried for hours, reading and rereading that letter. I hid it from my mother when she got home from work that night. I didn't know what happened between the two of them, but I knew that her reaction to the letter wouldn't be a good one.

And I wasn't angry with her, if that is what you're thinking. I knew from watching her with the men that she dated that…she was just flighty. She didn't like to be caged or tied-down. She just wasn't the type of woman to latch on to a man, including my father. I accepted that.

Even though I told my mother nearly everything, I couldn't tell her about this.

He had written his name, address and phone number on the bottom of the letter and I had instantly memorized it.

Charlie Swan

627 Westbrook Drive

Forks, WA

555-747-8899

I would repeat it over and over to myself like a mantra before I would go to bed. By the end of that week, I had made up my mind to go and see him. It was spring break and would be perfect timing for my plan.

I packed a small suitcase of meager belongings, some food and of course my books and set off into the cool Arizona night, leaving my mother and her flavor-of-the-month behind, snoring on the couch. I had scrounged enough babysitting money over the summer to buy a bus ticket to Seattle. Once there, I would call my father and he would hopefully drive me the rest of the way. It was risky, but I had to see him.

I had written my mother a quickly scrawled note telling her that I was going on a road trip for spring break and that I would call her when I arrived safely. I knew she would be worried and beyond pissed, but at least this way she wouldn't call the police. At least, I hoped not.

I was generally a good kid. Kept my nose to the grindstone and got myself a badass grade point average. I needed the scholarships if I had any chance of attending college, so there was little choice in the matter. Luckily for me (and my mother) I was pretty fucking smart. The only thing that bothered my mom was my potty mouth. I swear like a fucking marine. "You will never find a man with that mouth, Isabella Marie," she used to say.

So doing this to her might seem unforgivable and out of character but I couldn't tell her the truth. Not right away, at any rate.

I remember the bus ride was horrible and it was too dark to read any of my books. I wished that I had used some of the money that I spent on them to buy a music player-one of those new fangled MP3 thingies. Oh well.

"Who needs music when you have an imagination, right, Bella?" There's another quote from my mother. I called them "poorisms."

Here's how you make a poorism. "Who needs (money, a phone, cable), when you have (imagination, nature, Jesus…)."

Okay, I got sidetracked. Where were we? Oh, yes. The bus ride, right.

When I stepped off that bus I realized that I didn't have any change in my pockets or my backpack, only a wad of twenties. Not exactly good for making a phone call. And I HATE asking for money. I absolutely _loathe with my entire being _asking for money. I wished to God I had a cell phone like most of the kids my age. My mother's voice barged into my head again.

"Who needs a cell phone when you have resourcefulness!"

I sighed. It was time to pull out my best weapon in such situations. I put my hair into pig tails and brought out the doe eyes and asked the first guy I bumped into on the station for a quarter.

It wasn't an ordinary guy though. It was one of the hottest older dudes I'd ever seen. He wore a crisp tailored charcoal grey suit. His blonde hair was slicked back and he had captivating golden hazel eyes. He smiled kindly at me and I stammered there like a fucking idiot for about a full minute before asking to borrow that stupid fucking quarter.

He obliged me and I walked to the phone to make the call, but he kept his eyes on me the entire time. It wasn't exactly creepy, just…weird I guess. I'm used to men looking at me, but most do it with pity or lust. This guy just looked concerned and a bit curious.

I punched in the number slowly and heard the connection go through. My brain was fuzzy with excitement. Finally, I would hear the voice that matched the letter. It wasn't a dream. The line rang once, twice…eleven times. I sighed and tried to hold back tears. I'm not the crying type of girl, that's for sure, but when Charlie didn't answer the phone that night, I felt my world begin to shatter around me.

Yep, I fainted. And if it weren't for Mr. McDreamy-eyes grabbing me in time, I would have cracked my skull open. Luckily he was a doctor too, but still, cracking your skull doesn't seem like a fun time.

He brought me to, and his cool hands felt good on my face and his voice was so soothing.

"You're okay, you're okay," he kept telling me in comforting tones.

I sat up abruptly and scooted away from him. I'd learned the hard way that just because a man was nice on the outside, it certainly didn't make him one on the inside. But he was doing his hardest to convince me.

"Here, drink this," he said and opened a fresh bottled water for me. "I'm Carlisle Cullen. I'm a doctor in a nearby town. Perhaps I can be of assistance, Miss…?"

"Just Isabella to you," I said, trying to act all badass. "Thanks for the quarter and the drink, but I need to be on my way to Forks."

I stood up but was so shaky that I didn't object when he extended a hand to help me. So much for my badass act.

"Well that's convenient. I'm headed there myself. I live there with my wife and son. I could give you a lift."

I gave him a hard look. "Look, mister. I know you see the ponytails and the big eyes and think I'm a naïve little girl. Let me make one thing clear. I don't take rides from strangers. Not even good-looking doctor strangers."

I have a tendency to stick my foot in my mouth… a lot.

He laughed at me. "Very well, Just Isabella. But just so you know, the Greyhound bus station gets a little grisly at night. At least let me call a cab for you. Where exactly in Forks are you going?"

I was still wary of the guy. No one had ever been so nice to me. I reminded myself that I had a good pocket knife in my jacket pocket if he tried anything. I paused before deciding to tell him the truth.

"To Charlie Swan's place. I'm his daughter."

His eyes got big and round. "Charlie Swan? He's been a good buddy of mine for years! Never told me he had a daughter. I'm going to have a talk with him next poker night."

I could hardly believe that this man knew who my father was, let alone considered him a friend. His reaction seemed completely genuine though and I couldn't help blurting out what was uppermost in my mind.

"What does he do? I mean, why can't I get a hold of him? It's eight o'clock at night. Shouldn't older guys like you be headed for the sack by now?"

See? Foot. In. Mouth.

He laughed and I could see the sincerity in it. "You act just like him and look like him too, although you are much prettier without a mustache, I must say."

I finally let a smile slip and he caught it. "See? You Swans…you're softies on the inside."

I caved and let Carlisle drive me to 627 Westbrook, Forks, in his souped up Lincoln Navigator.

You would have to see Carlisle for yourself to understand. He's the kind of guy your heart trusted right away, before your brain had made a logical decision. We talked on the way there and all along my hand was in my pocket, clutching the pocket knife. It was comforting more than anything. I knew deep down that Dr. Cullen wouldn't hurt me.

"Your dad is the Forks chief of police. He has been for about ten years now," he spoke calmly as we pulled into the small town.

That fact sort of disturbed me and saddened my heart. Maybe I would have been protected from so much… damage… if everyone knew I was a cop's daughter. What did it matter though? I couldn't change the past and James was long gone…

"Oh. Well, I guess that explains how he found me," I said quietly taking in the town's features.

Downtown Forks isn't anything too special. You have your gas station, a laundromat and a small grocery store. A couple of small shops for the tourists. It was quaint and clean. And my, was it ever _green_. I couldn't take my eyes off the lush forests that stretched out as far as the eye could see. And to my knowledge, it wasn't too far away from the Pacific. I had never seen the ocean before. Heck, I'd never been out of Arizona. It was all very new to me.

Finally we pulled into a small driveway just off one of the side roads and Carlisle parked the car.

"Well, this is it. I'll go up there with you."

Charlie's cruiser was parked in the drive of the old colonial house. The house was beautiful but needed major maintenance. The white paint peeled off the siding and the grass hadn't been mowed in weeks. The flower beds were overgrown with weeds and the porch swing looked rotten.

The steps creaked as Dr. Cullen and I ascended them. The soft glow of the television came from the front bay window. Suddenly I was so nervous; I felt my bones turn to Jell-O. My hands shook and my vision started to go hazy.

Yep. I fainted again. And Dr. McAmber-eyes caught me…again. This was getting embarrassing.

"Sorry," I muttered as I came to again. He was peering down at me, giving me a look that I had come to expect, but had been yet to receive from him. Pity.

"Bella. It's going to be ok. Charlie is a nice guy. He will be overjoyed to see you."

His head snapped around and I jumped as the front door flew open.

"What in the green Dickens is going on out here?"

We must have looked pretty peculiar. A polished doctor, holding a scraggly seventeen year old girl in his lap. The flickering dim light on the porch didn't help the ambiance at all. Another thing that needed fixing.

My dad was nothing like I had pictured in my head all this time. He wasn't too tall. Maybe 5' 10'' at best. He was stocky and muscular. And had a mustache straight out of a cheesy eighties cop show. His hair was clipped short and his eyes were brown, but held no warmth. At least in that moment they didn't. This wasn't the loving man I pictured writing me that beautiful letter of love and devotion. He looked downright scary. I was still wrapped up in a moment of quiet stupidity when the good doc finally stepped in.

"Chief Swan. Sorry to disturb you at this hour. I take it you weren't expecting her?"

The man focused on my face and stood silent. That's a Swan for you. We are just so great with using our words.

"Who?" he finally asked abruptly.

"Um, this is Isabella, your daughter."

The doctor helped me stand on my still-wobbling feet and I finally met my father's eyes. His gaze scanned down my skinny little body in disbelief.

"Bells?" he asked softly, uncrossing his arms and stepping closer.

"Charlie, she's traveled from Phoenix to see you. Hasn't slept much. Is she okay to stay here? I'm afraid she's faint with exhaustion," Dr. Cullen spoke, his steady hand on my shoulder.

Charlie gave a quick nod and ushered me inside the warm house as Dr. Cullen went back to the car to grab my suitcase. The smell of the place was instantly comforting to me, not to mention familiar. It smelled like a mix of gun oil, leather and pine. The furniture was pretty sparse. A leather couch stood in the corner of the living room and I sat on it hesitantly. Dr. Cullen came back in the door and I could hear the two men talking in the hall.

"Charlie, a daughter?"

My father cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm just as surprised as you, Carlisle. I wasn't ever expecting this."

"Well, if you need anything, let me and Esme know. She looks a little worse for wear."

"I know. She probably did the best with what was given her. Her mother…"

I strained to hear the rest of the conversation, but their tones were too low. Suddenly, I felt like a burden. I didn't want my dad to "take care" of me. I was practically a grown woman and for the most part I could take care of myself. And my mother did a fine job considering the circumstances. I felt myself fuming.

Without pausing to think, I stood up abruptly and stalked into the hallway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your life, Charlie. Coming here was a big mistake. My mother is a good woman and she was always there for me, which is more than I can say for you!"

I ran out the front door and back onto the street, angry tears streaming down my face. Almost immediately, I heard heavy, hasty footsteps come up behind me.

"Bells, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say anything bad about your mother. Sometimes it takes a while for my brain to catch up with my mouth."

Well, we certainly had _that_ in common.

He came and sat by me on the street curb. I saw Dr. Cullen leave from the corner of my eye. He gave me a sad wave as he climbed into his car.

"It's okay," I conceded. "I just saw this whole reunion thing going a little differently."

"We both did," Charlie said and he put an awkward arm around me. "I have a guest room, if you want to stay. Please stay, Bella. We can talk more in the morning."

I sat for a moment in stubborn silence before I nodded. He gave a sigh of relief and we stood up and entered the house once again.

The guest room was nice and almost seemed to be waiting for me. The bed was made up with a purple comforter and an old brown bear sat on the pillow.

"Sorry, is this silly?" Charlie picked up the bear and gave me a sheepish look.

I managed a smile. "No, the bear can stay."

He smiled fondly at the worn creature. "Mr. Fuzzy is glad to hear that."

I laughed and he turned a bit red, placing the bear back on the bed. So that's where I get my phenomenal blushing ability from.

"Er…it was my bear as a kid," he offered.

I crossed my arms and tried to suppress the giggle that threatened to leak out. "Ah. Well, I'll take good care of Mr. Fuzzy then."

"Good." He walked back to the doorway. "I'm glad you're here, Bells. I've missed you. We will call your mom in the morning. Get some sleep."

"Okay, Charlie."

For the first time in a while, I felt safe that night. My father's peaceful snores and the far away sound of the ocean wind helped lull me to sleep.

xXx

I'm not going to lie. The first week was rough. Since my mom, Charlie had never lived with another human being. This meant he was pretty set in his ways.

Every day he would eat cornflakes, go to work, come home and watch ESPN. That was his ritual. I soon learned that he ate his lunch and dinner at the diner and hadn't been to a grocery store in years. I'm not too sure he would even know what a produce section looked like. This was shocking to me. For one, I love to cook. Secondly, I could count the number of times I had been to a restaurant on one hand.

Twice a day? It was unfathomable. Something had to change.

It started with me packing his lunch. Whole wheat bread sandwiches (from the bakery, not the bag, mind you) piled high with fresh turkey and vine ripened organic tomatoes. My special potato salad that could make a grown man cry (he almost did when he first tasted it) and his favorite, homemade chocolate chunk cookies.

The man thought he had died and gone to heaven.

I soon learned he loved Italian about as much as I did and we feasted on my homemade pastas using Nana Marie's recipe and sauces made from scratch. It was rewarding cooking for someone who enjoyed my meals so much. Charlie always insisted that I take second helpings of everything and I even put on a few pounds.

"Bells, seriously. You're a pro and this whole cooking thing," he would say in heartfelt tones.

But the best compliment was the silent appreciation and the occasion groan of a man in culinary heaven. And we were pretty silent most nights. I didn't really mind it at first, but I really had started to miss my mom. I hadn't called her yet, even though I had told Charlie that I had. Then there was the whole school issue. A week had gone by and Charlie was the one to bring it up.

"Bells, you need to finish your diploma. I insist," he said one night between mouthfuls of tortellini.

I only nodded in resignation. It's not like I wasn't used to beginning again at a new school. Besides, I only had a few months left.

The weekend before I would start up at Forks High, there came a knock at the door. Charlie was out and had on prior occasions had lectured me about opening the door to strangers, but when I peeked out the window, I saw a small waif of a girl with spiky, jet black hair, impatiently bouncing on the balls of her feet. She looked about as dangerous as a girl scout, so I cracked the door open a few inches.

I was so wrong.

"Bella!" She exclaimed as she forced the door fully open with her ballerina flats.

Before I could react to the girl, she threw her tiny little arms around me in a hug.

"Oh, Charlie said you were skinny," she said with a frown, picking up my frail wrist. "But this is downright shameful!"

"Excuse me?" I snapped, glad my vocal cords had decided to finally work. I jerked my wrist out of her grasp and pressed it to my chest.

"Oh, Bella. He told me you were a little testy too. I'm sorry. Am I coming on to strong?"

I stared at her like she had just sprouted a second head.

"First of all, who are you and what planet are you from?" I said looking her up and down.

Her outfit was a strange mix of outrageous and amazing. She wore silver metallic leggings, a black mini skirt and a white shirt with a skinny little black tie. The designer silver ballet flats completed the picture. She was the epitome of eclectic sophistication. I was instantly envious of her style and grace. I'm sure most people who saw her probably were too.

"I'm Alice, Carlisle's niece. Charlie called him and he called me. So you're starting school tomorrow?"

I looked at her, stunned. "Wait, wait, wait…Why would Charlie want you to come over? I don't even know you! I don't believe this."

But this Alice chick was unfazed.

"Look in the drawer below the microwave in the kitchen. Charlie said he left some money there," she said, nodding her head toward the kitchen.

I merely cocked an eyebrow at her, still confused.

She giggled. "We're going shopping, silly girl!"

"Oh no," I said, backing away, waving my hands in front of me. "This girl doesn't do shopping."

"But you can't go to school in _that,_" she exclaimed, gesturing at my tattered jeans and grey sweatshirt.

"I-I wasn't planning on it! I have other clothes you know," I said, and crossed my arms defensively over my chest.

A few minutes later, Alice was standing in my room, a small sad pile of my clothing stood at her feet.

"Bella, it's your senior year. Live a little. Let your dad spoil you!"

I was getting tired of arguing with the saucy little wench, so off we went to a mall in Seattle. While we were there I also got my hair trimmed, my nails done and a free make-up lesson. I could see how Alice was related to Carlisle; I just couldn't say "no" to her.

"Much better," Alice exclaimed, clapping her little hands in glee. I emerged from my bedroom in the skirt and cardigan ensemble that we had picked out together. I didn't want to admit it, but I had fun being a princess for a day…and you should have seen Charlie's face when he saw me later that day.

"Bells, you look beautiful."

His face lit up as I came down the stairs and I swear I saw him tear up a little. After Alice left that evening, I was in for another surprise. Charlie had invited his friend from a nearby reservation over for dinner.

Billy Black didn't seem to be inhibited by his wheelchair at all. That guy knew how to get around. I was amazed to see him in action. He helped in the kitchen, rinsing and chopping vegetables like a pro. And still to this day, I cannot filet a fish as well as he can.

Billy was very easy to get along with. I imagined that he was quite lonely, though. He had lost his wife to a car accident several years before and his only son, Jacob, had gone away to boot camp over the summer. He proudly showed me a picture of his son in fatigues.

Jacob was so beautiful in the picture. His black eyes were full of life and promise. I couldn't help wonder what kind of guy he was. We were the same age and Billy said we would get along famously.

"He comes back from basic in a few weeks. It will be good to have him home again. You and your dad will be there to help welcome him home, I hope."

I nodded at him nervously.

And for the first time in a while I was looking forward to something- to meeting someone of the opposite sex. It was a big step for me.

My first day of school was not without difficulty. Even though I was a veteran at starting over in a new place, I couldn't help but feel intimidated by the course work and the new teachers I would have to impress so late into the school year. I tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible. I sat in the back of my classes, kept my head down at an isolated table in the cafeteria and generally did my best to fade into the crowd. Not an easy thing to do in a small school but I wasn't doing a bad job of it.

Of course, Alice had other plans.

"Bella!" she screamed from across the small courtyard. "Come over here!"

I felt my face blaze as I shuffled backward, looking for an escape. But there is no escaping from Alice Cullen.

"Oh, no, you don't," she chided, taking my arm and linking it with hers. "I want you to meet a few of my friends."

A "few of her friends" turned out to be practically everyone and their cousins. Literally.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Bella. She just moved here from Arizona."

The large group gave me a range of smiles and curious looks.

"This is Rose, Emmett, Jasper, Mike, Lauren, Jessica, Tanya, Eric, Angela, Ben and my cousin Edward," she said, playfully ruffling the nearest guy's coppery hair.

Edward swatted her hand away in annoyance and tried to smooth out his wild hair. But it was of no use.

He held out his hand to me and I shook it hesitantly. His amber eyes met mine and I knew in an instant that this was Carlisle's son. The same eyes, square jaw and long fingers. He was tall and lean and had a classic look about him. He was wearing a button down shirt and the look suited him.

He told me afterwards that it was in this moment, looking into my eyes with my hand in his, that he knew that I was going to be his wife someday.

And I fell for him in return.

Only, I never really "fell" for him, so to speak. It was a much slower process for me than it was for him…

Anyway, that part of the story comes next. Edward and I are the main ingredients of course, with just a pinch of Jacob.

But even just the tiniest taste of something, can leave you craving more…

**A/N: So…let me know what you think, as always. What do you think of this version of Bella? Quite a bit different then SM's huh? Next chapter will explore her early relationships with both Edward and Jacob. It will be done at some point next week, maybe faster if the reviews motivate me. :D**


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